Orchard’s Finest Giveaway

As a follow-up to the recipe for Pick Your Flavor Cheesecake Bars, here’s a giveaway designed to liven up your holiday baking. The nice people at Smucker’s have offered gift packs of Orchard’s Finest to three Cookie Madness readers.

I’d never heard of Orchard’s Finest until I visited Smucker’s headquarters, but I really enjoyed our little tasting session which was done in the lab where they test things like viscosity, sweetness and chunkiness of preserves. While the machinery used for the testing was pretty high tech, the ingredients in Orchard’s Finest were simple and the preserves tasted like something I might make at home if I knew how to make preserves. Out of all the flavors, my favorite was the orange marmalade, but I also liked the Triple Berry and the Cherry.

Now it’s your turn for a taste test. For a chance at receiving a free sample pack of Orchard’s Finest Preserves, post a comment telling me whether you prefer jam, jelly or preserves and what your favorite flavor is. The cut-off will be this Friday at noon and I will announce the winner on this very same post Saturday morning. As usual, this one’s limited to USA residents.

I prefer preserves as well, I like the chunkiness, and I think they retain more of the fresh fruit flavor. I have tried the smuckers perserves, the “Coastal Valley Peach Apricot” is the best, it’s sweet and tastes so natural- perfect for the centers of thumbprint cookies! My local store doesnt carry the blueberry but I’d love to try it.

Strawberry jam is my favorite, especially when it’s homemade using strawberries picked at the local strawberry patch!
Though I became hooked on marmalade when I was living in England…on toast, on scones, on everything!

I love to use raspberry jam in the thumbprint cookies my mother called “Cream Cheese Cookies” because cream cheese is one of the ingredients in the cookie dough. You have to use jam (not preserves) in that cookie, otherwise the circle of raspberry would be sloppy looking. We always use a “baby spoon” (one left over from when we were babies) to carefully place the jam in the center of the dough (neatness counts in our family).

Like many who have posted, I’m a strawberry preserves girl. There is nothing I find as comforting as a piece of buttered toast with strawberry preserves. I like other preserved fruits as well, but strawberry is my favorite! I’m don’t really like “jelly” at all. And I’m not entirely sure what “jam” is.

Strawberry preserves for the win. Like a poster above, I agree that buttered toast with strawberry preserves is a total comfort food, as it a peanut butter & strawberry preserves sandwich on homestyle white bread.

In the last couple of years I have become truly fond of apricot preserves. When I was younger I hated apricot anything so this is an interesting twist for me. I’ve used the Smucker’s Orchard’s Finest Apricot and Cherry. They were both really great. I’d love to try the other flavors too.

I like preserves. My favorite is Fall Harvest Cinnamon Apple Preserves. One day when I was making Carmelitas, I discovered (a bit late) that I didn’t have any Smucker’s Caramel Topping. I substituted the Cinnamon Apples preserves, and the resulting bars were very good!

Jams, jellies, preserves, I love you all so much, and prefer those with chunks of fruit. But my favorite is your cousin – Orange Marmalade. Sadly, the FAA regulation of 3 ounces or less has put a cramp in my buying local jams/jellies when on vacation.

I love preserves of any kind. Two of my personal favorites are fig and pear preserves. We Southern girls have these fruits in almost in every back yard! Preserves seem to be the truest essence of fruit flavor in a jar! I love the idea that Smuckers has actually got some regional fruit! My sentimental favorite is strawberry preserves. My grandmother and mother both made them! <3

I prefer preserves on toast or English muffins — apricot or blackberry, please! — but prefer the smooth texture of jam or jelly for cookies (for use as a layer in bar cookies or as a filling for thumbprint cookies).